Infrastructur Management

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Since the early 1960s, there have been at least four generations of digital technology in facility management, each marked by a quantum leap of capability over the one before. As we embark on the next generation of infrastructure management, it's useful to reflect on where we've come from. Author and consultant Eric Teicholz puts the evolution in perspective.

SPAN software modules of the early 1990s, when FM application modules began to integrate through shared databases. Image: Peregrine Systems

To understand facility management (FM) technology, it is necessary to

understand its current context. Infrastructure management (IM), an emerging term, describes the trend toward broadening the FM application of computers beyond just facility

management or real estate (RE). .

IM addresses the relationships between all people, locations, and assets throughout an enterprise and provides a data automation environment for managing not only computers, but data, telecommunications, applications, and even the work processes associated with changing and maintaining this broad

infrastructure. .

IM incorporates not only the facility management function, but also real estate, human resources, information technology, and all aspects of finance and procurement.

SPACE adjacency analysis through a stacking plan, vintage mid-1980s. Image: Graphic Systems

The Generations

The first generation of FM was implemented on expensive mainframe computers with applications that were quite

comprehensive and integrated. .)

The Generations

Starting in the mid-1980s, this centralized, integrated model for facility management software technology became fragmented with the widespread deployment of

personal computers) .)

The Generations

Intergraph dual-screen CAD Workstations from the late 1970s, typically affordable only by large companies. Photo: Intergraph Corporation

The Generations

PC applications, representing the second generation of FM technology, were initially built around office automation software such as spreadsheets or databases. No standards existed for graphic or nongraphic databases and these "islands of automation" rarely were designed for integration with other applications.

The Generations

The SPACE program, developed during the 1980s, was for automatically generating stacking and blocking diagrams )in section and plan, respectively) from an adjacency matrix. It enabled users to input various space planning scenarios based on different growth projections and determine if each scenario would fit into the building envelope.

The Generations

SPACE blocking diagram with adjacency studies shown in plan. Image: Graphic Systems

The Generations

These second-generation computer-aided facility management )CAFM) systems, connected through slow local area networks )LANs) were restricted mostly to inventory )property, space, and assets) management and reporting applications.

The Generations

Aperture occupancy plan demonstrating a system's ability to display nongraphic data in a graphic floor plan.

Image: Aperture Technologies, Inc.

The Generations

The third generation, starting in the early 1990s, was characterized by robust integration between various FM graphic and nongraphic applications — still using the PC platform. Diverse FM application modules shared data by virtue of new database management systems )DBMSs).

The Generations

With the advent of client-server databases from companies such as Oracle and Sybase, enterprise-wide computer-integrated facility management )CIFM) systems significantly reduced the data transmission bottleneck and resulted in increased links to external corporate databases.

The Generations

FIS Move Simulation uses scheduling and financial data to generate "what-if" move scenarios for the space planner. Image: FIS, Inc

The Generations

Thus began the capability to create real-time space reports with occupancy information and occupancy cost analyses. Links to mainstream corporate databases made CAFM/CIFM more strategic in nature and raised the importance of facility managers. For example, organizations started to track costs )personnel and assets) associated with space, which in turn led to space charge-backs to the business units.

The Generations

Generation four came with the explosion of the Internet. Initially, FM vendors used the Internet to post static information by publishing HTML-formatted reports from the client-server applications.

The Generations

Next came some transaction server-based Web queries )using Java, Whip!, Active Server Pages, Cold Fusion and a host of other web publishing tools) for functions such as entering or querying the status of a work request or requesting a customized graphic or nongraphic report from the software .

The Generations

The emerging Web language XML )Extensible Markup Language) not only transmits data regarding display parameters but also interprets what the data means .

The Generations

Project Web sites of the late 1990s have profound implications for project management, especially when linked to e-commerce sites.

Image: Framework Technologies, Inc.

The Generations

At present there are no industry-accepted fmXML protocols but it is just a matter of time before fmXML becomes the glue that links and integrates FM data, especially for e-commerce tools and applications

The Generations

Buzzsaw.com offers one model for remote hosting of a project Web site. Image: Autodesk, Inc

The Generations

Internet-based CAFM systems include workflow and technical document management, collaborative project extranets for managing design and construction projects, and e-commerce for purchasing FM goods and services.

The Generations

Facility Design and Management Handbook edited by Eric Teicholz. Image: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing

The Generations

To use Internet parlance, we are entering a B-B ASP world )a business-to-business application service provider model). This means that businesses will be hosting e-commerce Web applications for other businesses

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

IM principles enable the management of strategic and tactical processes related to all corporate assets from a common, integrated environment. It embodies concepts made possible by management's growing realization of the strategic importance of information technology )IT) and that IT can influence all aspects of an organization's business. No business unit, facility management included, is immune from this centralizing force.

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

During the first three generations of FM technology, the management of the IT infrastructure involved in most cases the care of the mainframe computer and associated LANs. Partly because of the potential benefits of IM, however, IT increasingly incorporates

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

>PCs and all other computing devices )e.g., laptops, palm tops)

>Communications and telecommunications protocols and vendors

>Vendors and other types of corporate-wide data

>Internal and external Web technology including intranets and extranets

>Benchmarking and financial metrics for cost-benefit analyses

>Various aspects of mission-critical work processes such as procurement and financial management

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

Although the relationships between IM investment, risks, and rewards are just beginning to be understood and quantified, there are enough case studies available to conclude that organizations that understand such relationships and invest heavily in IM receive more business value and return on assets )an increasingly common FM benchmark) than those that do not.

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

For the facility manager, it means that the role of FM technology will change as IM is better understood and accepted by organizations. It means that an asset )whether a chair, a PC, a paper clip, or a building), will be processed by the same technology and with the same benchmarks and work processes that are in place throughout the organization.

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

It means that the support structure required for corporate strategic decisions )e.g., human resources, finances, real estate, IT, purchasing) will all be using the same technology and business processes and reporting to the same corporate or organization management.

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

Now every resource an organization is responsible for, whether leased or owned, is part of an integrated strategy that effects the entire life cycle of that asset. In the IM environment, understanding the life cycle of assets from purchase to disposal is critical

Benefits to Facility Managers

To sum up, effective IM deployment and management will integrate and implement all the promises of the generations of FM technology that preceded it.

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

>Provide a single repository of information about all occupants, locations, and assets that an organization owns or leases

>Capture, track, and potentially calculate the impact to an asset on an organization which in turn will minimize downtime and expenses

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

>Minimize the cost and time of moving employees, assets, and systems of an organization from one location to another .

>Enable new FM and RE technologies and applications to be deployed throughout an organization.

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

>Provide much more rapid integration of FM and RE data with human resources, IT and financial systems.

>Leverage the large investment made in enterprise resource planning )ERP) systems

Evolution of Infrastructure Management

>Facilitate the definition, collection and reporting of financial and operational benchmarks that are consistent throughout the organization